Tuesday, June 21, 2005

the man in the hot seat

presidential spokesperson and press sec ignacio bunye has been described by some as "the best presidential spokesperson malacanang has ever had." to some degree, i agree. i first covered him at the house of representatives when he was congressman for the lone district of muntinlupa. then again at the palace. he's very amiable. knowing how belligerent some members of the malacanang press corps can be at times (was i one of them? hehe....), bunye never got pikon. unlike some. he'd also infuse wit and humor when questions became heated. i believe that bunye's mild-mannered nature helped in parrying media's blows against the administration.but there were times when we (when i was still member of the MPC) needed bunye to react on various issues but couldn't contact him. not even thru text. he'd cancel his daily briefings and have his staff tell us he had an emergency meeting somewhere. usually, this happened when there were really big issues that malacanang must react to.at the house joint hearing on the alleged wiretapped tapes today, i saw him sit patiently thru the seemingly endless debates of the legislators on the rules and parameters of the investigation. but when he testified that it was "at the insistence of the malacanang press corps" that he played the controversial cd's, i immediately texted some of my friends there. jove francisco of abc5 said "may cnabi siya na mali. ibase mo s blog ko that day." gil cabacungan of the inquirer said it was bunye who was "overzealous" in wanting the cd's played. bunye reportedly offered the cd's to the mpc members 4 times. marie pena-ruiz of radyo ng bayan jokingly asked if they (the mpc) would be thrown in jail because of bunye's testimony. before bunye testified, i was monitoring the hearing at our live set-up at the batasan main lobby. there were several people who stayed behind me and watched the proceedings. when the camera panned to bunye, i heard one of the elderly ladies behind me call him sinungaling, kapal ng mukha.i dont know if many people feel this way about bunye. but i pity him. he's really a likeable person. he would sometimes go out of his way to give in to unusual interview requests or listen to your rants about the sudden changes in palace security arrangements and promise to do something about it. when he told me i was "more mataray" than the president (which i strongly deny), i didn't get mad. how can i? he was smiling ever so sweetly when he said it. he even apologized to rep. imee marcos when the lady legislator was grilling him this afternoon. imee, out of sheer exasperation at the man who came "from the wrong law school" (ateneo kasi si bunye), asked him if gossip about her and rep cayetano knowing about a destabilization plot was proof that they indeed knew of such a plot.as the house investigation enters its second day tomorrow, bunye will continue to be in the hot seat. congressmen are expected to probe deeper into the issues and seek clarification on some of bunye's answers (like how the cd's suddenly appeared at his alabang house and on his table, if he was indeed pressured by the mpc to play the cd's, etc). truth is bunye's best defense, but a little charm and wit will surely help.

Hmm, would you think that Mr. Bunye's likableness is carefully cultivated to make the MPC reserve some of their sympathies for the GMA camp? From what I read he does seem to be quite adept in scuplturing his statements (politely speaking, I know :) ). I'd like to know how much of what he says to you is the truth (more or less, anyway) and how much is BS on this Gloriagate thing?

Btw, thank you for these behind-the-scene glimpses of the malacanang scenes! Hope you add more stuff in this blog of yours! :)

Hi there Miss Tina-Panganiban_perez, :-) just found out na may blog ka pala, well I just wanna say to you that you're one of the best reporters I admire. Keep it up. Hehehe, mommy ka na pala? Akala ko dalaga pa eh, :-)

jove, di ako maka-update kasi back-up ako sa house wiretap hearing. pero tama ka, iba ang personal relationships at work relationships.frustrating ang house. not much has changed since we left the beat. that may be the subject of my next post.sa lahat ng nag-comment, thanks. post some more.

For me I believe much Mr. Puno, he's a proffesional journalists as well best presidential spokesperson in time of Erap, but when he depends Erap all that glitters in him dies slowly.

He once go here in Mindanao, infront of our home he conducted the rally of Senators last two elections, running as senator. Although I lost faith in him, I have a walk through my Home to the Plaza where he speech. And Guess What, im so sad that the person I believe before was not anymore him, He is speaking a lot but what irritates me is he is speaking to remember the trees (Puno in tagalog)when you are voting and then you will remember him. How poorly he compare himself to a tree , there I believe A fig tree is much greater than him or even a papaya tree in my backyard. To those Politicians, next time dont compare urselves to something to remember you in the voting booth. These only works for elementaries and nurseries, remembering something related to memorize and answers exam.

To Ignacio Bunye, the same also fate comes to him to Mr. Ronaldo Puno, they are both good spokesperson, but their goodness fades away when they lie.

I hope Mr. Bunye will not run as Senator next election, and compares himself to Bun-i to remember him in the election.

No offend to both parties, after all we are living in a democratic country, we are not in China.

In the case of GMA, our president doesnt lie since he kept quiet in tapes in the past weeks, and he set forth the truth that she is in the tape.

Does it means she is free now? from the charges? but does she tell the truth, or her speech tells more lies. Does she comes to us and admit the truth? but which is it? She admits she is the one on the tape but she doesnt admit she cheats? its a half baked truth, like a half baked pancakes which will not sell...

But putting ourselves in her shoes, and what if I tell I am in the Tape and I Cheat, I think its the whole truth, but after that what happen does it set me free? or in opposite it keeps me unfree and in prison?

The "Truth will set you Free: which I know comes from the word of God in the Bible, maybe the freedom it tells here is not a freedom here in earth, but freedom above when we die.

Well for our La Presidentia she can choose where she like, and its improper to us to decide her faith on us.

About Me

a sleep-deprived multi-tasker; a paranoid mom who only wants the best for her daughters; an open-minded feminist who is passionate about her advocacies and beliefs; an ex-b who has mellowed down but wisened up